Xmastime vs. Proust: The Thrilla of Vanilla

Over at Mentalfloss we see the veeeeeeeeeeery curiously similar story arcs to the defining novels of both myself with Williamsburg Rats: A Manny's Your of Duty and a scrappy little number by Marcel Proust called Remembrance of Things Past, a personal superslice of superslices. Let's take a quick look at the particulars, shall we?

1. Proust self-published the first volume.
I too self-published my first novel! And my second. And probably my third. But I will rest easy knowing that 100 years from now, people will be discussing my books on Mentalfloss and (blah blah blah something about hovercrafts and soylent green blah blahblah)

2. The last three books were released posthumously.

At this point any novel of any critical note I'll ever write would probably be released posthumously; some may say my first two already were.

3. Proust didn’t like the original English title.

I can't remember what the original title to my book - I *think* it was "The Manny Tapes"? But luckily Eric Kraft, author of my all-time favorite book Peter Leroy, suggested I should have "Williamsburg" in the title, so blammo! Thanks, Eric! 🤗

4. Proust’s evocative madeleine could have been toast.

Uuuuuuuuuummmmmmm...I was once madly in love with a girl named Madeline with the kind of frantic romantic energy one would normally associate withe the French, and you people already know what I think of toast OMG THIS ONE TRULY IS EERIE!!! I would have NARY A PROBLEM AT ALL claiming that MY madeleine would be none other than toast!!!!!

5. That madeleine scene is referenced in The Sopranos and Ratatouille.

My book hasn't been in any tv shows yet but once the inevitable (fingers crossed!) reboot of Wings is announced you better believe I'm hammering away to make that shit happen.

6. Many acclaimed 20th-century writers praised the books …

According to "Amazon Customer" on 1/15/2023 my book is, and I quote, "Surprisingly Good" so I'm not really sweatin' it with the critics myself, rats you very much.

7. … But not everyone was a fan.

Unfortunately for me that pretty much accounts for everybody else in the world who's not "Amazon Customer". We'll call this one advantage, Proust.

8. In Search of Lost Time is the longest novel ever published.

I was gonna make a "hey, Williamsburg Rats FEELS like the longest novel ever published!" joke here but I'm working on not being so self-hating so at this point I'll just politely suggest you buy the book and see for yourself.